Safeway is the only 24-hoursupermarket in Davis. Sometimes people invent exciting games to play in aisles past 3AM. Some of these games can get you permanently banned from Safeway. But don't worry — they just ban you one location at a time.

The South Davis store is larger than the North Davis store, and has a wider selection of prepared foods (e.g., roast chicken, sandwiches) available 24/7. It also has self-checkout statons. The North Davis store lacks self-checkouts, which is especially unfortunate since they are almost always severely understaffed. At either location you can expect to wait in long lines any time after 5pm, and don't hold your breath if you're waiting at the customer service desk. When shopping late at night, you are sometimes expected to hunt down the lone cashier (who will be stocking shelves) in order to complete your purchase.

Safeway's policy is that if you ask how something tastes, they will offer you a sample. This includes fresh cakes which they will cut you a small slice and then throw the whole cake away. While it's free food, it shouldn't be abused. If you're not into samples or public appearances, you can also order online and have food delivered for a small charge.

According to the USPS website, both stores sell stamps. Both locations have a Coinstar machine, Redbox DVD, Blu-ray, and video game rental machine, a Wells Fargo branch and a Starbucks. It is Safeway policy for employees to not accept tips. It is in their contract, and they face termination if they accept tips. Please do not tip the Starbucks baristas in a Safeway or grocery delivery people as it puts them in a difficult situation that could lead to termination.

Behind Safeway; good for dumpster diving. If you have to get to the stores by public transportation, you can take the 42 Yolobus line, or the G, J, P, or Q Unitrans bus lines to the North Davis Safeway. For the South Davis location, you can take the W, P, Q, or M Unitrans line.

It is also part of store policy to offer you either a raincheck or a different brand of the same product to any discounted item. For example: Safeway brand brownie mix is ten for ten dollars, but they happen to be out of the mix. You can either ask the cashier for a raincheck (and wait until another shipment has arrived) or bring a box of Betty Crocker brownie mix of equal weight and ask them to charge you for the price of the Safeway brand.

Safeway has paper and reusable bags for sale at the checkout. Plastic single use bags are banned by city law. Their plastic bags were especially thin, which was problematic if the store clerk didn't double up the bags on heavy items. They have a plastic bag recycling bin at the front of the store. The paper bags are smaller in comparison to those at Save Mart and Nugget and minus the handles. It used to be the case that if you brought your own bags to the checkout (reused paper bags or canvas-type bags), they credited your bill at a rate of 3 cents per bag. You got the same discount if you use their bags or those from a competing store.

Safeway has a mediocre selection of decent beers, wines, and liquors. Their IPA selection is particularly lacking; most of the time they only have two or three varieties. They frequently run out of some of the more popular mixers, such as Sweet & Sour or Bonedaddy's Margarita Mix. Keep an eye out for big sales on beer and wine; sometimes you'll find $2-3 off of pretty nice beers, dropping the price below $6 for a 6-pack. If they run out of stock on the shelves, you can have a look in the walk-in behind the beer fridge for more. You can find plenty of cheap beer.

The North Davis Safeway has a photo copy machine which is open 24/7 which is good news if you are desperate!

Sometimes you'll find their shopping carts have wandered away from the store and need help getting back.

Weekly Ads

Customer card from circa 2010At the end of October 2010, Safeway implemented a new web-based coupon system. As an introductory offer, when you first signed up online, you got a coupon for a free dozen eggs. With the new system, they have a fairly large selection of coupons, apparently updated weekly, which you can click on to add to your Club Card to be applied automatically while shopping. They also have "personalized prices" for things you buy frequently with your club card. Many products appeared to be around 8-10% off at first. However, this program is as complicated as it is frustrating. Customers do not want to go to the Safeway website every single week and click on coupons just to get sale prices. If you forget to click on the coupons, you don't get the discounted price. Safeway is just making people go through hoops just to get sale prices and customers end up getting charged more because the system is so complicated to use. Other supermarket chains don't use club cards and give the sales prices to everyone.

Trivia

One of the former employees at the North Davis location is Lamar Heystek, a former ASUCDsenator, City Council member, and California Aggie columnist. Lamar frequently wrote about his Safeway job in his column . The characterizations were greatly humorous and self-deprecating. He spoke of strange encounters in the condom aisle, embarrassing situations in regard to the restrooms, and customers' odd purchases, for example, or oftentimes his eccentric boss. More than one wiki editor believes that Safeway isn't Safeway without Lamar.

Famed Safeway employee and town celebrity, Lamar Heystek.The North Davis Safeway was originally built as two stores to circumvent a Davis ordinance that limited the square footage of grocery stores. The south side was smaller and housed the deli and liquor departments. Eventually the ordinance was lifted and the two stores combined; that's why the doors on the south side are a bit further out, and there is a set of doors permanently closed in the floral department.

Safeway has been in Davis for ages, but the company has an ongoing habit of closing one store and relocating to a different part of town each time a new development/shopping center opens. Former Safeway sites include the area that became State(Harvest) Market (now Cost Plus), the present location of the Co-Op, and the present location of the East Davis Nugget, to name a few.

Albertsons Takeover Of Safeway in 2014

Things were going very badly financially for Safeway over the past several years. In February of 2014, Safeway announced that it was actively looking to be sold to another company. Credit Suisse speculated that an outright sale to Cerberus or Kroger would be in the best interests of shareholders. Cerberus is the owner of Albertsons. It was 2006, when Albertsons was the company that was failing and ended up being bought by the acquisition hungry private equity firm Cerberus. Like a vulture it swooped in and bought what was left of Albertsons and proceeded to close stores and run their Albertsons stores into the ground. However, under the control of Cerberus, the new Albertsons chain slowly went back to its old ways and became more and more aggressive. Albertsons recently bought the following supermarket chains: Jewel-Osco (biggest chain in the Chicago area), Acme(Mid-Atlantic), Shaw's and Star Markets(New England states), and United Markets of Texas. Albertsons is on a vengeful conquest to become the largest supermarket chain in the nation and control the supermarket business across the entire country. The locally owned Safeway chain will cease to exist, and power would move to the corporate office of Albertsons in Idaho.

The owner of Albertsons announced on March 6, 2014 that it was taking over Safeway, although Albertson's CEO presently states they will keep "existing retail footprint of both companies intact" (source). With one powerful swoop, Albertsons will dominate the supermarket business practically from coast to coast creating an evil empire of high priced supermarkets. Of course, that empire is only a tiny sliver of the megalithic Cerberus Capital Management that is the owner.

When Albertsons bought Lucky in 1998, Albertsons also said they would keep the Lucky brand. They changed their mind and rebranded all Lucky stores as Albertsons one year later in 1999 including the Davis Lucky store. The CEO of Albertsons back then was no stranger to making promises he could not keep. Lucky was the low price leader and Albertsons promised increased savings to customers and lower prices once the takeover was complete. The opposite happened. When Lucky became Albertsons, prices went through the roof and many loyal Lucky customers switched to Safeway which was less expensive than Albertsons. If you believe that the merger of Albertsons and Safeway will bring lower prices, you have not been paying attention to the history of the lies of Albertsons. Albertsons killed the Lucky brand and brought high prices. Now Albertsons has taken over Safeway. History is repeating itself, and the public is being taken for a ride again.

In December 2014, Albertsons announced that 168 Safeway, Vons, and Albertsons stores will be have to be sold to other supermarket chains so that the Federal Trade Commission will allow the merger. The vast majority of store conversions will be in Southern California with many Vons and Albertsons stores being sold and converted to Haggen markets.

In May of 2015, Albertsons announced a massive wave of closures. Underperforming stores across the country will be closed. These stores operated for decades as Safeway stores and are now being shut down by Albertsons. Albertsons has had a history of closing down stores and selling off the real estate. Albertson is owned by Cerberus and Cerberus is a ruthless company bent on making money off of selling real estate.

The merger of Albertsons and Safeway was officially completed in early 2015. Albertsons is now the new owner and Safeway is merely a nameplate on various supermarket buildings owned by this corporation. Albertsons was once eradicated from Northern California, but now it has returned as an even bigger company that spans from coast to coast with an appetite for more hostile takeovers.

Comments:

2005-04-18 23:57:16 My roommate Julia used to work in North Davis Safeway until she quit! She still avoids shopping there, even though we live right across the street from there. —YawenChen

I wouldn't really blame your roommate. Safeway is after all pretty shitty place to work at. — HD

2005-06-29 22:46:11 South Davis's Safeway is MUCH better, and the workers are much nicer. —AnnieSirrah

Not really... the thing about certain Safeway workers is that they're terribly insincere. Who could blame them though? It's not that some of us aren't honest workers, it's just that we aren't compensated enough, not even decently. — HD

2005-06-29 22:47:45 Actually I find the workers at North Safeway are pretty damn cool. Maybe cause I see them so often, but even at 2 or 4 or 6 in the morning they are pretty chill. But South Davis is newer and nicer, agreed. And they have a *lot* more of the salads near the deli, the North Davis one always runs out. —ES

2005-07-06 21:00:16 Although their bakery is not nearly as impressive as nugget's, Safeway sells large individual cake squares that are pretty damn good when your in the mood to indulge. —SiennaGrass

2005-09-28 17:16:41 Why is the South Davis Safeway SO MUCH BETTER than the one in North Davis? Also, my advice is to AVOID any Safeway Friday and Saturday nights after 9:30. The lines are always incredibly long as every undergrad in town is stocking up on Doritos and booze. —JanelleAlvstadMattson

2005-11-12 01:04:39 The workers always seem miserable, especially poor overworked Lamar. This particular chain stopped carrying a rare item that I couldn't find anywhere else, and the baggers were always a bit ditzy. Going in after 11 at night always ensured us a thorough display of the stock clerks clowning around loudly to the local rap and hiphop station, usually attempting to catch some poor female's eye. At least the store was orderly. —TarynHornen

Interesting, I always wondered what happens at the other Safeway, when the South Davis location is at night hours as well. — HD

2005-12-13 19:39:56 shopping here is never a pleasant experience. pissed off workers, lousy selection, tons of frozen junk food. The Co-Op is SO much nicer —DudeNude

2005-12-16 04:41:56 Who cares? The South Davis location is convenient, fairly priced, and has a reasonable selection. That matters more than whether or not the employees have a good bedside manner during the 60 seconds you actually converse with them. And who shops at Safeway for anything BUT booze and munchies after 9 PM on weekends? —JohnNapier

2005-12-16 22:44:43 It's not the 60 seconds I'm in contact with them that bothers me, it's the fact that I don't like shopping at a place where the employees are disgruntled. If they're not being treated fairly by the management, why should I support the store? —DudeNude

2005-12-17 15:19:17 Get off your high Co-op horse. If you truly didn't want to shop where employees aren't treated fairly, you wouldn't shop at any retail location anywhere. Is it fair for Nordstrom to charge $200 for a pair of jeans and pay their workers $8.50 an hour? Or OfficeMax to sell thousands upon thousands daily while paying their employees as little as minimum wage in some markets? Or Staples, a Fortune 500 company whose starting salary is right above $7.15/hour in most markets? Retail is not fair, that's a fact. Safeway employees bring in a fortune compared to most retail stores (because of the union). —DomenicSantangelo

Granted if the Safeway employers all worked a guaranteed 40 hours a week, you'd be right about bringing in a fortune. That's also considering you've worked for Safeway for eternities. — HD

2005-12-17 19:53:58 umm, actually I don't shop at any of those stores you listed. I'm not judging other people for where they choose to shop, but I certainly have a choice where I spend my money. Happy shopping! —DudeNude

many university employees recieve minimum wage. the highest paid job on campus is 11.00/hour but that is LSC tutors whos job is considered high skilled and unionized. most jobs on campus are in the 6.50-7.50/hour range. — MattHh

just for clarification, I believe the previous poster is referring specifically to student employees. — AlphaDog

2006-01-26 17:06:27 you might not shop in retail stores, but you do go to a university where the employees aren't really given the world's greatest benefits —TimCoady

2006-04-13 16:20:30 In the fine print of their newspaper supplements they say "On Buy One Get One Free offers, customer must purchase the first item to receive the second item free." Darn! —SteveDavison

2006-07-24 17:19:59 Has anyone else been really annoyed by the North Davis remodel? If they are going to move the food, they could at least fix the signs so they reflect was is actually in that isle! I hate going through every isle in the store to find my food. —AllisonEriksen

2006-08-04 11:01:46 The remodeling is somewhat inconvenient, but on the other hand, they are remodeling it so it looks more like the South Davis Safeway. Which seems to be a main gripe here. However, I do hate it whenever any store shuffles around their merchandise. —MatthewTom

2006-08-30 19:24:12 I suppose that, due to my still-newbieness in Davis (entering sophomore year at this time of writing,) the North Davis Safeway is more or less a Godsend. I lived in Castilian South and I'll be moving into Alverado for sophomore year, and close proximity of the place, along with the 24-hour openness, means that it's really, really convenient to go for 2AM food runs. Not to mention there's no cars anywhere in the parking lot and the store is so quiet it's almost...surreal. —AlexanderHo

2006-09-25 00:24:03 Be warned the North Davis safeway can be so packed at times its hard to find parking, how do I know? I work there, and love it. —JoeRunnels

2006-11-08 21:17:23 the north davis location barely had any fruit or vegetables left on its shelves the last time i went there. their selection seemed to have been raided. never seen a safeway location with so few vegies and fruits. —AnnThiNguyen

2007-07-17 13:48:06 Anyone ever see those twins that work in south Davis safeway? they totally freak me out i think they are aliens that invaded us on earth, they are cool i am playing cool girls they seem to know a lot and are helpful i think the older guy scott been there since the 70's is very very nice and helpful great people for the most part and i dare to mention the customer service morning lady is so beautiful the most prettiest smile in the world if you read this please if you think it is me say something i want to take you to dinner your are amazing and very sweet!! —dickjones

2007-08-03 12:56:02 I love Amanda the morning customer service women beautiful smile cashes my check twice a month she is awesome , ok the store is great been shoping there since birth love safeway —Brians

2007-08-12 21:08:37 while i do like safeway much better than albertsons, does anyone find it odd that the express lines are 20 items or less (shouldnt they have like at least one 10 item or less isle). Secondly the signs are like 10 feet in the air, hanging from the ceiling (ive seen many of short people in the express line mistakenly, me included). Usualy the signs at other grocery stores are just above eye level. In fact it would be impossible to see the sign at safeway if you were actually in the line since the sign would be right above you. Just thought that this design was a little odd. —MattHh

2007-08-28 21:51:29 Does it count as greeting the customer if you look up for half a second without making eye contact? The store is fine, but it has the overlong line problem that probably every supermarket has (though at least Savemart has a self checkout). —MisterProfessor

2007-09-09 23:26:23 The South Davis Safeway is reasonably clean. The employees are reasonably nice and the prices are decent.

The Starbucks stand tends to add a little extra syrup to drinks. Two pumps is fine for a tall, kids. I'm not trying to get any fatter, but thank you. :-) —Casey

2007-10-28 22:59:05 I do not recommend shopping here at all unless you are looking for something unique to safeway. The problem is that it is much more expensive than Winco or Grocery outlet, and you can spend a fortune here just getting a few items. They have a good selection of flowers, but flowers are usually cheaper at SaveMart (but not quite as nice). For food, make sure to get your money's worth and go to Woodland for Grocery Outlet. —AnnaF

I very much agree with this statement... there are considerably cheaper places to shop at than Safeway. Some buy one get one free promotions are pretty reasonable too. — HD

2007-11-01 21:25:43 What the heck happened to the Safeway that used to be inside University Mall? —fordbw

2007-11-04 19:03:52 North Davis Safeway bike racks are littered with vegetation overgrowth, outdated, limited, and always crowded! I wish they would change this soon. This is being very picky but still. Oh and the bakery staff is friendly. —MischaGushiken

2007-11-15 22:30:04 I've encountered such bad service at both the stores in Davis, and prices are high compare to Savemart. I've completely stop shopping here completely b/c Savemart is so much better on my pocket book. Oh yeah, north davis safeway can't make sandwiches as good as south davis. Are they own by the same person? —kikao

2008-01-10 14:12:34 The deli closes anytime from 7 PM to 8:30 PM, depending on how lazy/busy the employees are. —Strategiry

2008-02-01 15:11:09 i hate the north davis safeway. for some reason they are almost always out of tofu or don't stock it even though they have a huge section for it. it's one of the main reasons i go out for groceries so it's pretty aggravating for them to nearly consistently not have it when i go. —MiranPark

2008-02-01 16:17:30 I completely agree with you about the North Safeway. Never go past 5 pm, because they are out of all their ad items and when you ask an associate if they have any more, they simply reply, sorry, we're out. Who runs out of their ad items in the middle of the week? Do they not know how to order? I worked in grocery for 5 years, and we would have been fired had we treated customers this way. The unfortunate thing about big chain stores. —BrandonBarrette

Safeway management= terrible. Tell all your friends. It's the reason why Safeway doesn't cater to customers, even when the 60 year old lady comes in complaining about how the paper bags don't have handles, and the Nugget does. It's all about saving money for the company and not for bringing in business. — HD

Actually, Safeway gets new shipments of items every day, in the wee hours of the morning. Thus, if an item is out, there is almost no chance of it being in back. The back part of a standard Safeway is very small, and usually only contains a few things like cereals or soda, so an employee can usually tell immediately if what a customer is asking for has any chance of being in back. Also, your average courtesy clerk has absolutely no say in what gets put into the ads, or what gets restocked each morning. — JoePomidor

2008-02-18 18:05:27 The North Davis Safeway is the devil. Whenever there are liquor sales advertised in their circular, by the time you go to the store they are ALWAYS either sold out or maybe have only one bottle left - even if it's the first day of the sale.

Also, when I asked for a Safeway card they actually wanted me to stand there in line filling out the lengthy application, despite the fact that there were 3 or 4 people behind me in line. At the old Albertson's they gave away discount cards like candy and would never inconvenience their customers like that. Save yourself a hassle and go to SaveMart or the Co-op. —AlexPerkins

Or you could've chosen to fill the card at home and bring it back at your next check out. You could've even filled it out after the checkout, and just handed it back to the checker and you would've been fine. — HD

2008-03-22 13:46:29 I LOVE this Safeway. Yes, there are days when it seems like they've been picked clean, often making me feel like a catastrophy is immenint and I'm the only one that didn't know about it. However, the staff is always helpful and pleasant. The guy and gal that run the sushi station are always willing to make a sushi tray to order. I think the best feature about this Safeway, is the starbucks. I love that no one corrects me when I order a LARGE drink. Every other starbucks makes me feel like an idiot when I don't use the appropriate lingo. —MamaLoebs

2008-03-28 15:36:17 I just discovered Safeway's "Signature Chicken Salad". You can find it in the deli and it is delicious! It's a perfect chicken salad and they don't drench it in too much sauce. It's the right amount. I just bought a pound of the stuff today. It's cheap and good. —CurlyGirl26

2008-04-02 11:01:36 I had the unfortunate experience of shopping at the north Safeway just last week. I am personally partial to the Nugget, since I worked there for several years before I got my “big kid” job, but I was open minded and had a few gift cards I had won in a raffle to burn. The store was clean and I actually ran into a few people I knew, since I don’t live in Davis, I was surprised. I found everything I needed and my trip was going well. Since this was my last stop after many errands, my 1 year old son was becoming less and less cooperative the more I wandered down the aisles, so I broke down and gave him an Easter balloon, which I intended to buy. By the time I got the counter for check out and after placing all my groceries on the belt (which is a huge pet peeve of mine!) I proceeded to watch the woman scan my groceries. She asked if I had “paid for the balloon in floral?” I said no (didn’t know that was an option), she said, “OK then I need to scan it”. Now picture me, a Mom, trying to pry a balloon ribbon out of the hands of a 1 year old in need of a nap was not going to have the outcome anyone wanted to witness or be a part of. So, I told her, “it says $3.99 right here, can you just punch it in manually?” she responded with, no I really need to scan it. I said oh ok and attempted, once again, to pry the ribbon from my son’s hands, at the moment I realized the bar scan was on a sticker that was removable from the ribbon, I said “I got it, here it is”, instead of taking the sticker, she walked away to get “another” balloon to scan. When she returned she scanned the new balloon and I looked and her and said, you apparently do not have children, paid and left. I will not shop at that Davis Safeway again; I don’t care if they are giving away free stuff. —mzscott911

How unfortunate for you. The checker could've just input the price manually and use the Manager's override and you wouldn't have had to go through the epic ordeal of fighting your son for the balloon. — HD

2008-04-16 22:49:37 Christ, the Safeway in North Davis is the worst Safeway in America. Every time I go there, they're always out of what I want plus they don't have as much selection. Even though this Safeway is more convenient (for me), I think I'm going to trek across town and do my shopping at the South location.

2008-06-09 19:48:38 I like to get the chinese food, but they put way to much rice and not enough meat. And the sandwiches are good, but only a couple people who work in the deli actually know how to make a sandwich. —Adaleen

2008-06-12 16:19:39 OK, I have to share this story. I went here with my girlfriend to do some shopping. We loaded up on a bunch of food to last us a while. She was still unloading the basket when I looked at our total. It was around 300 something. I figured that it would go down when we ran our Safeway card. It did, but only by about 10 bucks. Our total was around 360. I then asked the cashier if that was right. His response was. "yeah, food's expensive these days(I'm paraphrasing)". In utter shock, we walked out of the store but stopped to have a look at the receipt. Lo and behold, we were charged 187 dollars for a stinkin' bell pepper!! And we didn't even buy any bell peppers!!! We got our money back, but the moral of the story is, don't take the cashier's word for it. —GabeDavis

2008-06-30 18:33:20 For those who do not want to have their real name spoken by the cashier when using a club card, you can try the phone number (408)555-0153. It is a card made with the address of the Paper Street Soap Company from Fight Club with the name of Tyler Durden. —Jedron

2008-06-30 18:47:51 Safeway employees are constantly told to be nice to customers, for fear of the dreaded Secret Shopper. I worked as a Courtesy Clerk at a Safeway in my hometown, and I still shudder at the memory of it. Suffice to say, decency is a two way street, and many customers seem to forget that. —JoePomidor

I think that the above comment is probably one of the most considerate things I've ever heard in regards to Courtesy Clerks who work at Safeway. Too often comes the day that the angry customer who's had a bad day takes out their anger on the innocent employee who's doing absolutely nothing wrong. I think it's also offensive when customers come in and demand respect when they don't give any to begin with or are condescending simply because they think people who work at a grocery store are beneath them. Honestly, people just need to get over it. What it comes down to is something everyone should learn at a very young age, treat others with the same kind of respect that you want to be treated with. —JonathanMartinez

2008-08-12 16:57:05 The lines in the north Davis Safeway are horrible no matter the time of day. They need to get more cashiers on shift so people can get through a line in under 10 minutes. I normally spend more time in line than I do walking around shopping, and it's pretty lame. —twblalock

2008-09-21 03:23:09 AFTERHOURS NIGHTTIME SHOIPPING IS THE WORSE! ONLY 1 PERSON HANDLING THE CHECKOUT. USUALLY A 6-10 PERSON WAIT. —2point0student

2008-10-08 01:04:57 Don't shop safeway in north davis. There is some weird sh|t going on there. —mojo66

2008-10-08 01:37:00 Okay, I take that back. N.Davis Safeway is a good place to shop. That weird sh|t mentioned was personal. —mojo66

2008-12-06 19:02:17 yeah south one is a lot better than the north one —SprawlNBrawl

2008-12-06 21:03:10 Their selections are very inconsistent. One week I buy a certain brand of bread, the next it is not there. This happens with the lunch meat also. It's confusing. Also, they do not seem to keep sale items in stock very long. I'll go on the second day of the sale and everything is gone. Bummer. —EricaMacGregor

2008-12-11 00:14:59 I bought cold chicken wings from the Deli, the first time the wings tasted great, the second time half the wings were rotten. I gave them another chance one month later and this time 1/4 were rotten. The rotten wings were bitter, smelly, and BLACK. I can't believe Safeway would sell rotten chicken wings, and it wasn't a coincidence, it happened twice! —YummyApple

2008-12-16 23:41:37 Me and my friend went into North Safeway to buy a duraflame log around 9pm on a Sunday, the line was about 20 people long and only one checker was their. As we walked in, the checker just stared at us as we walked in, and than called her manager to the front over the P.A. and as we looked at the logs, a man who worked their (manager maybe) asked us if we could use any help. He looked very annoyed with us for whatever reason and I have NEVER been asked if I needed help in any supermarket anywhere, so we told him we had what we needed. As we walked away, he walked over to the logs and gave it a once over than opened a new lane just as we got to the front. He told us he could help us than told the 15 other people who jumped behind us that he was only helping us as we had "an issue". He stared at us, not saying anything until we left... it was the weirdest experience of my life and im never going back their again... —xack10

Were you naked?

2009-01-08 18:19:32 I bought a loaf of bread here the 3rd that was dated the 7th, ate two slices, and ended up with food poisoning the next day. I look at the loaf later only to see the entire bottom half was moldy. Really gross. It was obvious but only on the bottom side so I couldn't notice at the time of purchase. When I went back I saw many remnants of those little date stickers, so I really hope they don't switch those out. I will definitely be more careful to thoroughly examine the food I buy.

2009-01-10 11:33:45 WOW how whiny can we be! You all sound like a bunch of spoiled little brats. I worked at this safeway for six years and I understand everyone has different experiences, some good and some bad, but dayum! For the people saying Safeway sucks to work at. I started when I was 16 and was making 20 bucks an hour by the time I was 18 and has all the benefits you could possibly ask for and my job was NOT hard. You get out of it what you put into it so if you worked there and were lazy or you just think you know what it is like to work there guess again (that was in 2004 so maybe it's not like that anymore). I'll admit that all the employees aren't always very friendly. As far as prices go, yes it's cheaper to go to Woodland and shop at Food4Less. You can get a pallet of cheez-its for like 2.99 but for the students whose mommies and daddies didn't buy them a car, for the students who walk or ride bikes and need an accessible supermarket 24 HOURS A DAY Safeway is extremely convenient and not horribly expensive. If you know how to shop and use the ad you can leave with a lot of food and not spend a lot of money. They have great deals every week including BOGOs. The lines are long, it's a very busy store. If you go in at night and wait in huge lines, I'm sorry it does suck but that's the manager NOT scheduling nearly enough people as we need to get those people out the door and everyone takes it out on the checkers. So for those who are in line yelling at the checkers or dropping your groceries and leaving all pissed off, take a minute to call in to the manager or write out a comment card because if enough people did, maybe something would change. Believe me, all the checkers have tried to tell them. Anyway I'm done ranting. I get annoyed when things are out of stock constantly too they need to work on that, but if they don't carry something you want, they will order it for you, just ask. —dvntboy

About the first part about it sucking to work at...I got a job at Safeway a couple years ago and the wages they were offering and the scheduled raises wouldn't have put me anywhere near $20 after 2 years. I think after 2 years it would have been closer to about $10. I was thinking "what the hell, I thought Safeway employees got paid well?". Apparently that is no longer true due to a new union contract. It may have changed since then. The point is, there might be employees there that are only making a few cents over minimum wage. That might help disgruntle them. I can't comment about actual working conditions, though. I got offered a better job before my orientation thing, so I never ended up working there. Also, to everyone who complains about sale items not being available...that's pretty much true about every store. When things go on sale a lot of people tend to come in and buy them. Sometimes the whole point of a sale is to get rid of the items. —BradBenedict

2009-02-02 19:37:45 Be careful locking your bicycle near the South Davis Safeway and also watch where you park. The employees that smoke like to hang out near the bikes and the parking lot and smoke up the area with their nicotine. Disgusting. I have resolved to park my bike at the Rite Aid now. As far as parking my vehicle, I don't know. Just this evening I was parked in the Officemax parking lot next door and sure enough there was a Safeway employee with friend, seated on the curb right in front of my truck. I had to walk through their cloud of cigarette smoke to load the groceries. Safeway is totally ghetto!! —G.L.

2009-02-16 16:06:42 Why's there so much hate on the Safeway in North Davis? I buy my bread, rice, eggs, dairy, juice, meat, and produce there. I don't bother with the convenience foods (deli & frozen section), because I cook everything myself from scratch (save for baking bread and rolling my own pasta).

Never had a problem with spoilage; my bread always outlasts my housemates', who get theirs from the co-op. Never had a problem with sale items being sold out; I usually go after class, which is on most days 1pm-3pm, but even when I make the inevitable night run, I always find what I need. Rarely wait for more than three minutes in line; more often than not I get a tap on the shoulder "I can help you over here." Admittedly I've never been to the South Davis branch, but I fail to see what's going on up here that warrants the complaints here. —HJH

2009-03-02 13:58:03 I know what is wrong. Kids living on their parent's dime thinking everyone should wait on the hand and foot. Read enough of the comments and that is clear. What business doesnt have employees that go out and smoke, its not illegal, but it is to do it inside. I dont smoke, but let them if they choose. You eat stale bread and/or chicken several times from there? You didnt notice that before you ate it, and then went back for more? Common sense isnt a common virtue. —patrick82

2009-03-22 01:08:50 The covell location has a good selection but is chronically understaffed at the registers. As I post this, I've been in line for the single open checkout line for over 10 minutes with a dozen people ahead of me and more behind. No one has opened a second register. This seems typical for this store, and is not the result of this being spring break in Davis. —IDoNotExist

If anything, I would have expected that spring break might ease the crunch... —JoePomidor

2009-03-24 15:15:06 I work at the north davis/covell location, I'm the pale gangly white guy with the "just got shocked" hair that works graves. The reason we're out of sale items at the beginning of the week is actually due to the time of day shopping is done, not the day of the week. We get full trucks worth of groceries in every single night, you guys do a good job of gutting us every day, but we thank you for it, sales = payroll = good.

General grocery stocking happens between the hours of 11pm and 7:30am, davis is full of college peoples looking for good food deals, you do the math. Unfortunately, Safeway has a self auditing system that involves "shops" in which they rate their clerks and overall shopping experience, those can only happen between the hours of 8am and 8-9pm?, hence, in the proper evening, there is like no one checking and the lines suck super bad because payroll has sucked up staffing those earlier hours. :/

We night shift have to split our time between ringing up the party people and putting stuff on the shelf for the next day, unfortunately some clerks get cranky and sometimes the party people miss out on a pleasant shopping experience. :( Typically we have 3 people to run the registers, do an inventory of the store, order 500-1000 "pieces" (cases of items) and "throw" the pieces ordered from the night before, then face the store up to make it look pretty. It's a crunch every single night. We do our best though.

I honestly get a kick reading the trash talk on the wiki, so I'll probably go back to lurking away after this.

ps To the star with the paparazzi following her around, you were the most positive customer of the evening and made my night last shift, even if you had to visit us twice. Thank you for that!

2009-04-24 15:27:00 Comment on the Sushi available here: I think it's a good deal for the price/quality ratio. If you get there during the hours when it is staffed, I know the people who work there are more than willing to custom make your sushi with whatever ingredients you want. The lady who is there around 430 on weekdays does an especially good job, making me some cream cheese/shrimp/avocado rolls fresh when I asked (and that's not one of the menu options).

You can get I think 12 pieces for about 6 dollars. It's not as fancy as Zen Toro or Sushi Unlimited, but everytime I've gotten it made it's tasted fresh — definately fresher that Mermaid Sushi at the Co-op in my opinion, and usually other places are a bit more picky about letting you customize your rolls (That I've seen at least). I can't vouch for the sushi sitting in the isle, as the freshness would depend on how long it's been there (I think it's fresh made daily though, and everytime I've picked it up around 4-6pm it's been tasty and fresh). —C.T.

A note on the Sushi: Alex and/or Christina make the Sushi fresh throughout the day. It sells rather well and nothing really ends up sitting out for too long. The stuff you find out after hours is made last thing before they take off for the night.—robnightcrew

2009-05-09 01:01:04 um, i have to confess my love for the <i>south</i> davis safeway. even though it's farther from me, they carry soy ice cream (purely decadent) which means that crazy vegans with crazy soy ice cream cravings at crazy hours of the night can have their dreams answered even when the co-op is closed. sure it's a tad more expensive. but i get to eat cookie avalanche soy ice cream at 3 in the morning. thank you south davis safeway. i love you. —MiranPark

2009-05-09 14:04:46 I bought some sushi last night at about 10 o'clock. It was still really fresh tasting and delicious. I will be purchasing from them again. mmmmmm. tuna rolls... —EricaMacGregor

2009-05-18 10:36:37 Ok you bitchy, gripey people. I have to admit, when I first moved off campus to S Davis I was not happy with the customer service at the S Davis Safeway. They do not kiss ass like in N Davis. However, there are DEF cuter guys workin in S Davis, and they are funny as hell, and love to flirt! You wanna p/u a cute guy? Yeah, hit up S Davis Safeway! Talk about customer service! LOL! You should see their service AFTER work hours! :) But seriously, once you are a reg customer, they take real good care of you, they just take a little more warmin up. The meat and fish departments are a huge disapointment though. Nothing local or organic. Co-op and Nugget much better for that. However, S Davis meat dept guys rock! They will do just abt anything you ask short of ropin and killin the cow you want! :) I don't eat the sushi there though, but who the hell eats Safeway sushi anyway? Hit Moshi Moshi across the street, or Zen Toro, or if you like Korean style, nothing beats Kim's downtown. You can get 21 pieces for $4, and she makes it fresh everyday. Granted, nothing raw and exotic, but cheap, tasty and healthy! Back on subject... Safeway employees do get paid well, and they stay a long time, so it can't be too bad. They are just very short staffed and busy, but they work hard and do their best. But dealing with drunk college students and crying 3 year olds day in and day out isn't gonna make anyone overly pleasant. But be sweet to em and they'll take good care of you! ;) —sthdvsgrl

The idea that Safeway employees (at least those who have been there less than 7 years) make decent money is a myth. I've been on the Night Crew at North Davis almost 3 years now, I make $10.40 an hour and stay up all night, every night. For the record, I'm nice to people because I genuinely like to make them happy, not because I'm trying to kiss ass at ridiculous in the morning. (Who would do that when there are no managers in the store anyway?)—robnightcrew

2009-05-18 19:14:36 Does anyone know what's the name of the gorgeous black guy at the South Davis Safeway who always flirts with all the girls. He's a hunk! —SophiaWenshek

he's name is Isom.

2009-05-19 12:39:09 Safeway employees get paid well? Wish I knew who said that, lets just say I get below 9 dollars. Some get paid well, not all. —patrick82

2009-05-22 Good deli sandwiches, but the deli guy is SLOW! It took 35 minutes to get two sandwiches and we only had one person order head of us. Don't know I'll go back unless I have an hour to kill. Two words: multi task. AlisonM

2009-05-26 21:13:57 Yesterday My girlfriend and I bought a bread (7 grains french bread)at South Safeway with the due date of May 28th. At home we opened to eat and we found that there was white mold on the surface(we couldn't see it before because the mold was on under the first slice of bread). The mold was not only on a slice but rest of the whole bread. We were upset and disguisted about it so we brought it to the customer service. The employee there just gave our money($3) back and didn't say sorry or anything. She was like, "here you go." and gave us the money back. That was it. Don't buy bread at South Safeway. You might find yourself eating moldy bread. YUCK!!!!!!!!! —kjhjzang

2009-05-27 00:09:35 I have to say I have never seen "white mold" on bread at Safeway. I have bought their uncut french bread, and it did have a coating of white flour on the bottom of the bread. I think it is used to keep the bread from sticking to the oven. Safeway french bread is baked daily. Safeway guarantees their french bread to be fresh at 5PM or it is free. I doubt mold can grow in that short of a time period. However, at another Safeway that was not located in Davis, I bought freshly baked wheat bread which grew a little green mold after several days of sitting unrefrigerated (around 3 or 4 days at least). I believe it had to do with the freshly baked bread not having preservatives and the fact that the bread came in plastic bags which trapped moisture. You should freeze the bread that you cannot eat in one day. Don't leave bread sitting around for more than a day. I trust the french bread to be fresh, but not the Safeway pre-cut sliced loaves of Whole Wheat bread baked in the store that is packaged in plastic bags. —MaxLucas

2009-06-08 00:43:25 I don't usually have strong reactions to what I see on the shelves at supermarkets, but what I saw tonight at Safeway really upset me. The boxes of cereal are now about 1/4 to 1/6 the size that they used to be. It's not the hidden (massive) price increase that bothers me so much as the fact that Safeway is now selling cereal in boxes that hold only enough cereal for 2-3 breakfasts, thus greatly increasing the amount of packaging that must be used, the number of trees that must be cut down, and the amount of trash that will wind up in landfills. What a horrible waste of resources! I used to buy one box and it would last me two weeks. Now one box might last me for 2 or 3 days. If I continue to buy just one box, I have to make twice the number of trips to the store, wasting energy. If I buy more than one box, I create much more paper waste. I think that shopping at costco instead of safeway may be in order now - at least they carry reasonable sizes of food...

I don't know if this is actually Safeway's fault, or a change in product packaging for cereal makers to hide the massive increases in their products over the past few years. But I would encourage shoppers to consider buying their cereal at stores that respect their shoppers and the environment by carrying products in reasonable sizes and packaging. —IDoNotExist

I've noticed this in a lot of the big grocery stores over the last several years. (Safeway, Albertons, Ralphs, etc). Seems like the 12.5oz box or whatever it is (10.5 for the healthy cereals with berries _) is becoming the main size. I think it generally was 14 or 15 or 16.5oz prior depending on the manufacturer typically, with the "family" size ones generally being 20oz+? I might very well be off on my sizes, I'm rather sleepy. I almost always buy my cereal at Target - it's far cheaper, and typically the larger boxes. More selection than Costco... Also IDNE, this is a bad link but Kellog is testing out a space-saving box that is expected to fit into pantries more easily. The eco-friendly design holds the same amount of cereal but uses less materials. Hopefully similar things are at play? -ES

2009-06-17 12:17:05 Dear Safeway Grocery Baggers and Cashiers:

Please stop smashing my fruits and vegetables!!! If you want to smash produce and put it back on the shelf that is one thing, but once I have paid for the things in my shopping cart, they belong to me and as my property they should be treated as such. If YOU had paid $5 for a bag of apples, or $4 for a bunch of bananas I know for a fact you wouldn't be smashing them.

Here are a few simple guidelines for bagging groceries, since it is apparent that Safeway refuses to train you properly. If you cannot understand how to follow these rules, then please just get out of my way and let me bag my own groceries thanks:

1. SOFT THINGS GO WITH OTHER SOFT THINGS. Hard things with hard things, and heavy things with, that's right you guessed it, OTHER HEAVY THINGS. Some heavy things just go it alone, because they are either too big for a bag, or too heavy, or would be a waste to bag at all.

2. If I have 3 canvas bags this does not mean all of my groceries should fit into them. Sometimes I buy more, sometimes less, if I have more I would like some plastic bags. If I have less you shouldn't put all of my groceries into one bag (see rule 1).

3. If I have a large canvas bag this doesn't mean you can load 20 lbs worth of groceries into ONE BAG. I have to carry this from my car to my house and would prefer to have an even distribution of weight per bag. To be honest you have no clue how people carry things home so you better pack in the most evenly distributed manner possible.

4. Layering is very important, as things come down the line put the heavier and more sturdy items in first and then lighter and more easily broken, bruised and squished items on top or last. Watch out for sharp poking objects. A bag of chips ARE NOT a cushion for 6 cans of soup!!!

Seriously folks, if you cannot bag groceries how can you expect to move up in the grocery business? Let alone the world? How would you like it if I came over to your house and sat on your cereal, stomped on your greens, practiced juggling with your pears, used your bananas for a hand cushion and threw tomato cans at your mushrooms? Seriously. I will do it and you don't have to pay me a cent.

Let me re-iterate for the last time, if you can't bag groceries, don't even try. I prefer to do it myself because I am a control freak and if I am paying $75 for basic necessities I want them to actually be EDIBLE when I get home. I would also appreciate it if you did not act like your soul has been crushed when I say I would like to bag my own groceries. No offense, I don't trust my juicy perishables with just anyone.

Seriously bag your own groceries then!! I shop their every week and they never do that to my produce... quit complaining

I think there are probably a lot of people who don't appreciate the subleties of grocery bagging, and I agree with Carrie, this is absolutely their job. A lot of people complain on this site because they were being jerks and got treated like a jerk, but I think this is a legitimate point regardless of what happened in Carrie's particular situation. The advice is relevant to all grocery stores, employees, and customers. —NickSchmalenberger

I agree with the general point; but personally I care more about the checkers/cashiers. If they pack it poorly, I tend to readjust it right when I'm walking away and usually there's no harm at all. Most of the time, they get it right. But the cashiers/checkers, ugh. I get that you're trying to do your job. I get that there might be people in line behind me and you've been working a long shift and you're tired. Go ahead, slide those cans and jars, I know they'll be fine. But don't slide them into the cushion of my bag of chips. That doesn't happen often, but what happens way too much is them practically tossing or bowling my fruit down to the bagging area. Don't toss my bananas, and don't roll my apples and oranges or what have you. I hate mushy fruit, and that it really drives me nuts that in trying to be an efficient cashier and speed me through my checkout, you do far more damage than the rare (for me, apparantly not so rare for Carrie) poor bagging job. Most bigger grocery stores tend to have this problem, but it used to be a frequent thing for me at the Davis Safeways. -ES

I don't have this problem 100% of the time I go, some baggers are better than others. But for whatever reason it is always the single point of extreme annoyance for me about grocery shopping to get home and see juice oozing from my fruit or my lettuce reduced to a green slimey mess. I could care less about waiting in line, people clogging aisles, etc. But when I get to watch someone manhandle my bananas I cringe. I have been doing my own grocery shopping since I was 18 and not until I moved to Davis did this even become a big deal to me. Is it a lack of training or a lack of interest in customer satisfaction? Hard to say. But I once again say they are my groceries once I pay for them, as such they shouldn't be thoughtlessly abused. Please see a copy of my above letter also posted in Nugget Market, it's not just a Safeway problem in my book. —CarrieBishop

2009-06-21 02:18:32 Went in the N. Davis location this afternoon and got busted by the "head clerk" and her "regional manager" for using internet coupons. Apparently even the management are not following their own Safeway Coupon Policy. She told me they're not taking internet IP coupons because they could be "copied", and told me rudely "not to come in here gain, since they'll not be taking those coupons". I am using legitimate manufacturer's coupons printed from safeway.com, for God's sake (only 2 coupons are allowed per computer)! I said "I'm calling corporate" and she told me "this is their corporate policy". Hello? Read your own company website! I was more amused by the ignorance of the "head clerk" and some "regional manger" she talked to on the phone to confirm this "policy". I'm bringing my business elsewhere. I have a feeling that Davis is such an affluent community that they don't see many couponers :( I got trouble at Rite Aid for using coupons too. It's stupid of them to treat coupon users like criminals since it's the manufacturer that are going to pay them!! —val

2009-06-21 02:18:32 I bought Eating Right™ Eggs from the Cowell location. Their eggs have the Safeway "S" stamped on every egg. Personally, it's disgusting to me. How can I be certain when I crack the eggshell that no shards would land on the yolk. And is their stamp edible? I would never know. Why did they need to stamp "S" on every egg in the first place. Advertisement? —WengFF

Do you mean to say that there is a stamp on the eggshell or the egg yolk/white itself? If there is a stamp on the egg, then unless you are cracking the egg improperly, there should be no eggshell shards that would land in the yolk. Also, if my assumption is correct, then I'm wondering why you would be eating the eggshell at all. If I am wrong and there is a stamp on the eggyolk/white (which doesn't seem physically possible), then I have no idea. But considering most people don't eat eggshells (which are nearly all washed properly prior to shipment), I don't think stamping the shell has any effect on the egg. —SunjeetBaadkar

In some states, they have the date and origin farm stamped on them. It's pretty nice. I'm not sure why you'd complain about that or the fact that they print on the egg carton too... you don't eat either the carton or the shell, and the stuff you actually eat or use isn't printed on. -jw

"Security." Cashiers are supposed to pop open any carton of eggs you buy, the obvious reason being to make sure none of the eggs are visibly broken. The other big reason is to verify the purchase, the right number and type of eggs (ie, if they pop it open and see six white eggs and six brown ones, something is wrong). I don't know what "Eating Right" eggs are specifically or if they're costlier, but I bet you one purpose of the stamp is to distinguish them from other normal eggs, making sure they're packed in the right carton and not switched into others. If you're concerned about the stamp itself, a dab of alcohol or vinegar and wiping with a napkin should take care of it. It's a bit of an annoyance, but it's pretty harmless. -ES

2009-08-17 13:31:32 I haaaate buying sushi from the North Davis Safeway. I would stand in front of the sushi selection trying to decide which kind I like (unakyu or california, brown rice or white rice) and the chefs keep saying "it's fresh. i just made it. they're all the same." I tell them that I'm just deciding what kind to get. Then they repeat "it's fresh. i just made it. they're all the same" as if I was being picky or something. This happens EVERY SINGLE TIME and annoys me so much that I don't bother buying their sushi anymore. They should just let their customers decide in peace. It's not like im lifting all of them and criticizing their quality. —julpham

2009-08-30 14:22:56 Some comments about North Davis:

1. I needed help reaching something on a high shelf and it took me a very long time to get someone to help me. They're clearly understaffed. 2. Believe me, I've worked retail, and I know customers can be horrifically rude sometimes. But that's no excuse to ignore the customer you're currently helping to vent with coworkers about a customer that came in five minutes ago. It's extremely inappropriate, and made service even slower than it already is. I don't go to Safeway to hear 4 middle-aged women gossip.

3. A word to customers: STOP parking your carts in the middle of parking spaces! How would you like it if a cart rolled into the side of your car and made a nice scratch or dent? How much does it take to just WALK ten feet and drop your cart off where you're supposed to. Don't you think the poor kid who has to wear black pants and a heavy button up to collect carts for hours in 105 degree weather already has a hard enough time? Not to mention the fact that the parking lot is already hard enough to park in, wasting a space for a plastic cart is just ridiculous.

2009-11-24 20:33:41 Definitely understaffed. The lines at the Safeway next to highway 113 are horrendous! Furthermore, their produce section isn't even funny to look at, 99% of the time they are out of stock on half of their produce and about 50% of the time I go here, the produce I get turns out being old or partially moldy (grapes, strawberries, potatoes, cherries).

FACT: Davis tries to be a small town, but the problem is: there are too many people. Davis is not a small town, it has a lot of people and all the city council does is enforce strict parking and driving laws that keep Davis congested with angry city dwellers who don't look out for each other, but instead look for how to get in front of each other, where it is in line or on the road. —JSlice

2009-11-28 14:52:01 I have started to give my business to Nugget because every time I have been there, there have been ample checkout cashiers and was only the second person in line. I cannot count how many times I have been to Safeway and had to stand in line down another aisle...Too bad, they are only 30 seconds from my house and I'd rather take the time to drive to Nugget. —EricaMacGregor

2009-12-19 13:40:03 Gosh, this is all starting to look like a complaints forum! If you want to whine and complain so much, hit up /b/. Honestly. I've been going to the S. Davis Safeway since it first opened, literally. It's near my house and on my route to both school and work, and thanks to my hours (and sleeping habits) I tend to make thorough use of theirs. My early morning shopping adventures have always been met with good service and a generally friendly attitude for the 10 years or so that I've been around the place. If I'm in around 6AM on the way to work I tend to get a chuckle out of the usual cashiers since they know me as a regular... always bananas and milk for the hotel I work at under my mother's management. Just this morning, "Doing your mom's shopping again? How's business?"

To the payment vs. service issue, it is of my opinion that the customers are just as much responsible for the service they recieve as the employees. I make a point of being polite and personable, even for such a short time, expecting and almost always recieving the same in return. I expect to get what I pay for, as well... cheap products are cheap. I know about what I should get for my money so you'll never see me complain bitterly about a $3 sandwich that turns out to be worse than one from Subway... though I've honestly never had that happen. :) Safeway is the reason why I've not been inside a McDonald's in over 5 years... cheaper food that is real food. Whaddya know.

ANYWAY. </rant>

I've discovered the wonders of hot, fresh cheese bagels at 3AM and curses on my lactose intolerance, I'm darned well going to get them! As far as living on a student budget, the store has been a godsend. I work all weekend long but if I grab a couple fresh baguettes, cheese, and whatever else I feel like having with it I can nosh on those for three days when I'm too tired to do anything else. $15 or so for 3 days worth of food (for a big eater at that). Not too shabby. I've been known to obscenely dangle my baguette of the day in the face of some poor victim just to feel proud of my victory over their Wonderbread. Take that, bland, prepackaged fiend.

2010-01-13 20:47:49 What does it mean to do a raincheck? The link explains nothing about prices or safeway. —ThanhVu

You can get a raincheck when an item that is on sale sells out. You can come back later when the item is back in stock and buy the item at the sale price instead of the normal price. —WilliamLewis

2010-01-16 20:15:27 Great place to get snacks, and can't beat using coupons for that (I've been getting good at it and gotten much free granola bars these couple weeks). —LeeY

2010-01-17 17:59:23 I tend to have bad experiences at the N. Safeway so I prefer the s. safeway. Today was another bad experience at n. safeway, I got home and notice on my receipt that I was charged for "safeway water" that I didn't buy:( and it just wasn't worth the time or gas to drive all the way back to ask for the money. Oh, and this isn't the first time I was charged for an extra item, which gets annoying b/c it adds up $$$. Other times it's short handed staff or bad customer service. Anyone ever noticed the short haired brunett chick who wears the high collar dress shirt (I think she's assistant/manager?) she's kinda snoutty, I notice that everytime I've been in the checkout line with her (trust me I try to avoid her)she doesn't acknowledge me which makes me wounder if she does it to students and people of color. It happens everytime I'm at the checkout line with her, where she would greet the ppl in front of me and thank them, but doesn't acknowledge me not even after I pay she doesn't even say thank you (not that I expect her to, but it's just good customer service)and it happens everytime, which makes me think she's snobbish and provide selective customer service. @ 1st I thought maybe I'm just takin it out of porportion, but no! I've actually said hi to her once at the checkout stand and before she replied, swear to god, she looked me up and down then said hi. This is just one example of the ample times of poor customer service.

I've been shopping more and more @ the nugget who has superior customer service and honestly the price is comparable. I've been trying not to shop @ safeway b/c I just don't want to support a place of business that treats that customer so poorly. —kikao

2010-01-18 23:21:25 I lived just a couple of apartments away from the north Safeway for more than 4 years and did nearly all of my shopping there. During peak times, the lines can get pretty long (and late night, which is grossly under-staffed)

I've since moved a little farther away, and now that I typically drive to the store rather than walking, I find that it's usually a lot easier to cruise the extra couple of miles to Nugget—especially at peak times. I do most of my shopping there now, only using Safeway when I just need one or two things and want to make the trip very quick.

That said, I still don't mind Safeway. I think that if the parking lot at the Marketplace didn't suck so terribly, I'd be far more likely to go there more. That place hurts my brain... as do a great many of the people walking and driving in it. —TomGarberson

2010-02-03 22:50:02 Expect to wait at least 10-15 minutes in checkout lines for the South Davis Safeway. —TR

2010-03-11 22:11:15 Does anyone know one of those cute chicks in the Safeway in South Davis? I think one of them is a manager. Is her name Christina or Jennifer? —juan99

2010-05-25 11:05:33 The Davis management runs their crews ragged and shows them no respect. I met a nice girl who is working in the bakery of north Davis store. She was helpful to me, but a supervisor reprimanded her while she was assisting me. She had to excuse herself and when she came back she looked like she had been crying. She continued to "cheerfully" help me but I had a rotten feeling for the rest of my time inside that store. Is this a usual practice for bosses to pick on staff or what?? I have read through many of the posts here, sounds like Safeway in North Davis earned the nickname SLAVE WAY. —BarryKeller

2010-06-02 13:28:48 Safeway is too expensive compared to other supermarkets. Sometimes they have good deals, but those are hard to come by...but the store is pretty for the most part. —PaulV

2010-07-02 16:59:52 1. Is everyone in here a model?

2. Sometimes late at night there are only one or two people working and the line gets ridiculous.

2010-07-31 20:50:08 Just went to the South Safeway second time after 4 years, (I lived somewhere else and was visiting Davis). I liked the fact that the store still is as nice as it was 4 years ago. Took a club card first from a cashier (who from the dress was at least an Asst. Manager., very helpful and patient. Saved 40 bucks using the card while buying groceries to last for a month (25% saving on the total bill). Groceries were bagged and delivered till the car by a smiling "bagger", nice touch. After a 2 day 1700 mile drive, I sure wasnt in a mood to haul my own groceries into the car. Look like I will be visiting this store often in the next few years. —snehalt

2010-08-05 18:53:27 The North Davis Safeway seems to be going back downhill in terms of service and produce selection. 6 or 7 years ago, it was absolutely terrible. They managed to improve it dramatically, though, and it was perfectly decent for most of the time I was living nearby. Over the past couple of months, though, I've fairly regularly run into grumpy or silent employees, horrible management queue management, and poor stocking. Last week, for example, I was headed to the checkout lines. There were three lanes open, two of which were 15 items or fewer. There was one person being checked out in one of those lines, and the other was wide open. The other lane, with no item limit, had 3 full carts backed up. I asked the checker in the open lane whether she'd take 20ish items. She said no, 15 item limit. I was a little annoyed, since she was just standing around. I got in the back of the normal line, though, and waited my turn. The lazy checker checked out one person then stood around some more, talking with the other 15-item checker who was also freed up. By that time, the line for the one normal lane was a whopping nine people long, all with full carts. They actively turned away 3 other people who asked if they could check out with more than 15 items. Once there were nine people in line, one of them finally said, "I guess I should switch to another lane, huh?"

Sigh. I guess I just need to make the trek to Nugget. I prefer shopping there anyway, it's just quite a bit farther. —TomGarberson

The late night people are more friendly in my opinion. Or the early morning. Just whenever is not a prime shopping time. —hankim

Not to defend them, but it might be a principle thing. For example, what if the person behind you had 19 items and then after the 15-item attendant checked you out the 19-item person asked to also be checked out, and so on. Sometimes they have corporate policies that disallow employees to do things like that. It might even be a possibility that the item limit check out computers actually stop them from ringing up more than 15 items. I have no idea really, but I do find it amusing that people get so impatient when waiting in line at grocery stores. —SunjeetBaadkar

I agree with that, but IMO when there are that many people waiting, they should open up another line (and not wait until their are *nine* people waiting!). I get impatient because sometimes I have stuff melting in the cart. Some ice cream-oriented desserts are very temperature sensitive, and milk is another thing I don't like sitting in the cart too long. —CovertProfessor

2010-09-07 20:11:51 I just went to the North Davis Safeway in the search for some dinner, and the sushi really caught my eye. Yes, it is still in the little plastic boxy packaging that kind of makes it look like those pre-made Costco sushi things that taste pretty nasty and mushy...but when I looked inside, it looked pretty fresh and legit. The presentation was slightly better than the costco sushis that they used to have and they didn't look like they had been sitting out all day...they actually looked really fresh! The sushi chef was real nice too. I think he might be new? Who knows. But he offered to make something fresh to order for me if I wanted. Well of COURSE! Fresh is always better! So I asked him to make me an Avocado salad roll that I had seen earlier but never tried. It was surprisingly tasty :) I'm going back tomorrow to try the sashimi and sushi platter because the prices aren't bad at all. Oh plus, I was there around 7:30 at night and this guy was the only person in the deli area still working. So, I'm thinking its probably good place to get a quick and tasty dinner in Davis :) —jfong252

2010-09-07 21:51:56 This place is one of the best places to get a sandwich. For 5 bucks, you can have whatever you want. They have a variety of toppings and condiments. No extra charge for Avocado. They even have Havarti cheese for no extra charge! 'Nuff said. —TheShah

I gotta agree, Safeway has excellent sammiches. So delicious! —TomGarberson

2011-01-12 16:03:50 The night cashiers are always cool at Safeway, and I appreciate that.

North Davis seems understocked next to the South Davis store. Last week - no milk, no eggs. Whats going on!?!?!?! —peterdoubleyou

2011-01-19 03:47:13 I love north davis!!! only when that really fast checker/manager is working, the one with a vest :) makes my trips soooo much faster. —rikahs89

2011-04-03 01:29:21 The South Davis store stocks champagne and OJ in the same fridge. How awesome is that? —HarrisonM

2011-04-11 15:11:34 I am not a fan of the Davis Safeways. I bought a "pre-cooked" Turkey breast there from their hot deli and it was not cooked all the way through. I am not talking a little bit pink but actual raw meat. I have never spent money there since. —DanielleC

2011-05-30 00:03:32 I don't understand why they don't provide more staff at night. The store is filled with students buying what would appear to be higher margin items. Tonight it was so bad that I left in frustration. I think they would increase business considerably if they ensured at least two (and maybe more) checkers at all times.

Also, I don't understand why they don't hire more courtesy clerks. They can pay them less than half as much as a checker while effectively doubling a checker's speed.

The slow check-out often drives me to Nugget (where I know I pay more, but also know that they will always call more people to check and provide a lot of courtesy clerks rather than having customers wait. —RMS

2011-06-11 16:55:02 I had a terrible experience in the Safeway at North Davis today. There are currently tons of high school students and college students graduating. I went to Safeway today morning at 10AM and asked them politely if they could give me one of those huge graduation balloons. One of the three girls there wasn't even interested in helping and just told me that I would have to wait 10min because they had several orders. I agreed to come back and I decided that since their flowers were ugly looking (Looking sort of "about to die", even when we are in an important date where they should have fresh flowers) that I would go to Savemart.

I had to walk all the way to Savemart and found beautiful Leis, flowers, and a big balloon. I bought this and went back to Safeway for the other balloon, and the girl rudely tells me that I have to wait 20-30min because they ran out of Helium. Seriously, Safeway should hire people who can give GREAT customer service and treat customers politely. She didn't care that I wasted my time WALKING back from Savemart to Safeway, or that I even went to Safeway in the first place. She didn't even apologize, and just had this attitude of "I don't care that you had to wait."

On top of that, for a time when everyone is graduating, Safeway should be prepared to have enough helium tanks and fresh flowers. 10AM and they ran out of Helium? And the girl didn't know this until the last minute? I could have saved my time and gone to Savemart where they are indeed polite and have fresh flowers as well! This girl should be more considerate of others times considering the fact that I had a graduation ceremony to attend. She should have known what she can offer and what she can't. There are super nice people in Safeway, but this time, it was a HUGE fail. I will NOT be returning here to buy flowers/balloons. No sense of good customer service at all. —CC

2011-07-20 14:59:07 Attention veg*ns and people allergic to shellfish: beware when you buy homemade sushi. I picked up a box today (north location) that was labeled VEG in big letters. Brought it home, looked at the ingredients, and... not only was there fish in it but also things like crab extract. Obviously I was pissed because I'm vegetarian and almost ingested animals, but the error would have been especially egregious if I was allergic to shellfish. —MeggoWaffle

2011-09-14 20:47:01 I'll admit I'm not to knowledgeable on the whole vegetarian thing, but why would you buy raw fish if you're a vegetarian? Is there a vegetarian option, and if so, would it really be sushi then? —patrick82

There is vegetarian sushi. It's not like I bought raw fish intentionally. It was specifically labeled VEG in big letters (read above). -Megan

Yep. I eat vegetarian sushi all the time. Many sushi restaurants offer it, e.g., Zen Toro and Sushi Unlimited. Most sushi restaurants I've been to at least have a cucumber roll. —CovertProfessor

The word "sushi" technically has nothing to do with raw fish, but consists of "cooked vinegared rice (shari) combined with other ingredients (neta)" (from Wikipedia). —DChang

2011-09-16 20:09:24 Well it looks like the N. Davis Safeway has it's deserved share of bashing. I'm a resident of West Davis and a mom. I HATE this Safeway. I've complained to corporate about the terrible management, but of course, they don't care. The store is terribly stocked, there are never enough checkers, and the "customer service" desk is never, ever staffed. I have to wait ages to return anything, and then I have to go over to the registers and wait in line there too? Ridiculous! With so many bad reviews, I wonder why nothing has changed in the 4.5 years I've lived here. Davis residents who are fed up with this terrible store should BOYCOTT all Safeways, even though the South Davis Safeway is fine. We need to get a message to corporate that Davis residents deserve better. —SarahHughes

2011-09-25 23:41:34 North Davis safeway is tiny, and without the self checkout you might as well not even bother going at night because the line for the one check stand will go all the way down an isle.

If you want the basics it's fine, but make sure to go before say... 5 pm? Late night (after midnight) is okay too on week days.

Also, if you're in South Davis, pay for your groceries at the self checkout by pouring coins into the coin slot instead of getting ripped off by coinstar, or being limited to Starbucks/Amazon giftcards! It's a little slow so if it starts spitting out your coins just feed them back in after waiting a few seconds and the machine will take them. —sundeimasu

The store itself is considerably bigger than the North Davis Safeway, and although I don't have the exact numbers I'm not sure that it's any smaller than the Covell Nugget. What are you comparing it to that makes it seem so tiny? Wal-Mart Supercenter? —jsogul

2011-11-03 19:43:58 The North Davis Safeway is horrible. The clerks have no personality and are pretty rude. Long lines and poor food selections. By the way, does anybody clean that place - it's pretty gross too. Do yourself a favor and go to Trader Joes, the CO-OP or Nugget. It's not 1986 anymore. —stodd84

2011-12-18 20:07:55 I go to the North Davis Safeway weekly for groceries. I think the best time to shop is on Saturdays and Sundays around 8am. One of the employees, I think her name is Debbie, is always nice to me. I try to avoid going at night after 10pm because there's this one guy who always works the cash register during this time and he is so rude. He does not greet you or even tries to be friendly. They tend to run out stuff especially when the item is on sale. I always load up my card with coupons and personalized prices on the website before I shop. Why don't they have self-checkout? —VKC

2012-01-05 18:55:19 Safeway is unionzed. Service blows. Avoid if you can. —CarlosOverstreet

I actually find the employees (at least in North Davis) really, really pleasant, and pretty efficient. The service problems that I've run into have had to do with understaffing. Unfortunately, they seem to have cut back on staff in the past 6 months or so. Prior to 4 or 5 years ago, lines were a minimum of about 10 minutes any time after 4pm. It got a lot better, but the past half dozen times I've gone after work there have only been a couple of lanes open and 8-10 people waiting in each line. —TomGarberson

Everyone wondered whether TJ's would cut into the Co-op's profits. I suspect that Save Mart and Safeway have taken hits. —CovertProfessor

2012-03-20 21:31:17 Safeway (North Davis) doesn't carry rye bread. What the heck is up with that? Seems like a pretty basic thing for a grocery store to carry. The best part is, if you ask at the bakery, they send you to the deli; if you ask at the deli, they send you to the bakery. Fun times. —TomGarberson

Can't get decent rye bread 'round here, anyway. Hardly worth it even if you do find it. —CovertProfessor

2012-04-28 15:14:02 Just had a great customer service experience South Davis Safeway! They went above and beyond. Thank you Katie for asking about the ribs and Thank you even more Terry for making our special request. Great job!

2012-06-20 17:12:38 Just got an AMAZING cake from N. Davis Bakery Dept! The clerks were so helpful and kind. I will definitely be going back! —Cznark

2012-06-21 17:09:16 I finally wrote to Safeway to complain about the long lines (West Covell store). With the understanding that we are very privileged in this town to have 2 24 hour stores, it's incredible that in a college town, after 9 PM, they always only have one damn checker available (@ West Covell). Great people working there, just totally under-staffed and under-supported. How many people walk into the store, only to turn right back out and leave after seeing the long line? Wonder how much they lose to other places (like CVS next door), just because they won't keep an additional checker on site between the hours of 9 PM and midnight? Surely the amount would be more than enough to cover the cost of having an extra employee there to help. I see so many people getting so fed up with this @#$%&*, and yet management won't (can't?) do anything. God forbid you ever have to "run to the store for a couple things" after 9 PM... better be prepared to be in line for at least 15-20 minutes. Nothing like angering the customers in your community, just to save $40 or so in salary costs. Save yourself from pain, avoid this store whenever possible... Westlake market is open until 11, and you can get most everything (outside of produce) at the 24 Hr. CVS next door. Sorry for the rant, just finally got fed up. —OldDavis73

2012-08-26 16:39:52 I noticed the South Davis Safeway has self-checkout, does the North Davis one have that too? —omnipotentdude

They sure don't... they could really use (at least) one though. I heard one of the employees mention that "there wasn't room for them", I don't know about the validity of that statement. Plus, you apparently still need 1 additional employee to "babysit" the self-checkout... which based on their typical staffing levels, this is something the North (West) Davis store seems to have no interest in doing. —OldDavis73

2012-09-30 17:45:44 I recently went to the Starbucks in Safeway on Cowell Blvd. I placed my order and the barista, Amy started my drink. While she was preparing my drink I saw her pull back a bloody band-aid to see if one of her fingers was still bleeding. Disgusting. Where do they find these people? During this recession there are plenty of people who are looking for work. It wouldn’t take much effort to find someone with some common decency, hygiene, respect for their job and the customers. —Douglasx

2012-11-24 15:37:35 Using www.wiki.com I searched for an article about the relationship between Coinstar, Redbox, Starbucks and any other i-business relationship that Safeway may have generated over the past several years. After all you can’t go into a Safeway or just about any grocery store these days without there being a local bank, a movie rental, and coffee shop within the bounds of the store. This is a perfect example of business going “I”. Safeway was once just a grocery store and with the discovery of a better “one stop shop” for their customers, that’s just what Safeway did.

The wiki that I pulled up described some of the nuances of the two Safeway stores in a small area in northern California called Davis. There is a store in North Davis at 1431 West Covell Boulevard and another one in South Davis at 2121 Cowell Blvd. The wiki describes some differences and similarities of the two stores to include the size of the store. It further explains a typical experience at these stores from the beer selection, the “free try” policy at the deli and bakery, weather you will get offered paper or plastic and even if you can recycle the bags at the front of the store.

This wiki doesn’t necessarily talk about the evolution of Safeway transforming into an i-business however it does state that both of the Davis stores have a Coinstar machine, a Redbox DVD, Blu-Ray, and video game rental machine, a Wells Fargo branch and a Starbucks. This is clearly evolved from the need for the busy consumer to be able to stop at one place and get all your shopping done. These relationships are not symbiotic, however they benefit from each other significantly.

2013-01-18 14:43:37 NORTH DAVIS SAFEWAY IS THE WORST PLACE TO SHOP IN DAVIS. Every time I go in there I encounter the same things: LOTS OF LONG LINES. They have 8-10 checkstands, but only 1-2 are staffed at any given time. I run into this problem at all hours of the day. Try to stop quickly at 9am? Takes 20 minutes to buy one thing. Going after 5pm? FORGET IT, you will never get out, because there will be at least 2 lines stretching almost to the back of the store. It ALWAYS takes me longer to wait in line to pay for things than it does for me to get all the grocery items I need. In addition to the horrendous wait times, the staff is completely incompetent. They can't figure out how to enter coupons, they don't ring up all your items in one transaction, they mess up the whole transaction and have to redo it, etc. They'll even stop in the middle of checking you out to call a colleague to their checkstand and then chat with them about leaving something for them in the breakroom, a party the last night, or gossip about some other colleague. Really? You have to do that NOW, with a line of 10 people waiting to finally pay for their groceries so they can leave? And all of this dysfunctional shit occurs every fucking time I go in. So really, just don't go unless you have a LOT of time to waste. —mellibean

2013-02-23 20:13:58 I enjoyed the south Davis Safeway. I especially love the just for you program. I have saved ridiculous amounts of money with the coupons. The only problem is that you need to check the expiration dates on the items you buy, which is pretty tedious. I accidentally bought expired medicine at this location. They exchanged it for me but there were several other packs of expired medicine on the shelf still. Also, their deli chicken is not very tasty. The self-checkouts were nice. —LoriOrf

2013-08-16 06:15:33 I'm a cashier at CVS and every day I get customers pissed off at Safeway employees because their lines are too long, so they take their business to CVS. I don't appreciate their unkind words about the Safeway staff AT ALL. Every experience I've ever had at Safeway has been awesome, the employees have always been kind to me as well as helpful. I appreciate their hard work and dedication to a job that treats them like crap. If you have ever worked for a corporation in your life you will understand how difficult it is to receive little to no staff on a daily basis. As a customer you are nothing more than $$$ marks, the sooner you realize that the better. —CatherineOgas

2014-01-14 23:46:30 I went to the North Davis location once when I used to live in North Davis, and that time I went there, I never experienced the ridiculously long lines that almost everyone above me is talking about. I think I only had to wait about 5 or so minutes behind some people in front of me (who had shopping carts filled to the brim with their groceries) before it was my turn. Now that I live in South Davis, though, I go to their other location, and I agree that it is much bigger and has more selections than N. Davis' Safeway. —MichelleNguyen

2014-01-23 13:06:37 I made the mistake last night of popping in to the North Davis location to get "one or two things". 2 lanes open. No express lane (20 items or less). Lines 20 people deep. It is my conclusion, based on observations made over a 3 year period, and after expressing and hearing a myriad of complaints directed to the store manager, that they are simply unwilling (not unable) to make any improvements in customer service.

Again, I have to emphasize that this is (mostly) not a Safeway corporate issue, rather it is the management of this particular store. I feel bad for the staff (who are very nice) and customers. Sadly though, it has come to this: I live less than 2 miles away from the North Davis location. If I want to go to Safeway, I will simply go to the South Davis location. If they are busy, they will open another check stand. The manager will come out and bag (with a smile) if it gets busy. You can use self checkout. Same company, completely different experience.

My advice is to avoid the North Davis store at all costs. It will take you longer to wait in line (and make you angrier), than it will to go to any other store in town. If for some reason you have to visit a store in the Marketplace shopping center, go to CVS. —OldDavis73

I was there last night, too. There was one line and it was practically down the whole aisle. I asked an employee if he could open a second line for everyone and he said he couldn't, but maybe the manager would if I asked. Two reactions to this: First: why should I have to walk around the store looking for the manager instead of getting in this humongous line? Shouldn't the manager be aware of the problem? (So I requested he find the manager instead of me, and he assented, thankfully). Second: why can't this employee open a checkout line? Seriously management, train him on the register (it's not hard) and pay him an extra few dollars an hour. The way they run this store isn't fair to the workers and it's certainly not fair to the customers. So sick of it. -Megan

It just amazes me how the store manager really cares nothing about angering customers. How many people have walked out of that store furious, abandoning their potential purchases out of pure and utter frustration? I know it won't likely happen, given its convenient location and those ignorance of (or indifferent to) this issue... I would just like to see some negative financial consequences for this store, based on the manager's apathy. I truly believe that's the only way the issue would be addressed by corporate. —OldDavis73

2014-01-23 16:54:24 Visited the Oakshade Safeway today. Bought a bottle of liquor and the clerk needed my birth date. I'm 62 years old, nearly bald, unstylishly dressed and grumpy. I suggested to the clerk that us older customers buy their alcohol at establishments that had some degree of common sense and then perhaps Safeway would get a clue. I suggest it to all Daviswiki readers. —JimStewart

That must be a Safeway policy, because the ABC does not require asking grumpy 62-year-olds for d.o.b. unless they look to be young. We are pretty darn paranoid where I work, but not to that level; I cannot find an official indication, but in CA private alcohol trainings, it seems that the "recommended age for carding" is 30 years old. —DougWalter

I have worked in retail before. The computer asks for a date of birth so that it can confirm that you are selling it to a person over 21. If you don't type a date of birth the computer will lock up and the sale will not be completed. The employee could type in a fake date of birth, however if the customer looks under 40 the employee must get a correct date of birth or risk losing his or her job. —MaxLucas

2014-01-24 16:23:42 Usually shopping at the South Davis Safeway is an OK experience. Not today. The checkout clerk was really sick, coughing, sniffing and wiping his nose with the back of his hand and then handling and packing my groceries. Yuck. The manager should have sent this person home or not allowed them to come to work in the first place. It's seems to be a total lack of consideration for the health and well being of the community in general and the store customers in particular. This happened a couple weeks ago at Whole Foods and most everyone working there got sick. Of course it's hard to know how many other people get sick as a result. The managers can do better than this. —AnnieOakley

2016-03-14 18:43:53 I've been reading all of the comments on this for Safeway, and I wanted to interject some of my thoughts. First of all, I have never had a bad experience shopping at either Safeway in Davis- I don't know if it's just because I shop in the afternoon- between noon and one, and it's just not that busy at this time. Most of the cashiers have been very polite and I've never had trouble finding any of the items on my shopping lists. Second comment: If you notice there is understaffing at certain times of the day, try other stores that time. Save Mart is in the same area as one Safeway. And continue complaining to corporate. Send one email a day. Overload their inbox. lol.
—Amydali1986